


Code Name Heartbreaker

by jotc



Category: Eureka
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-25
Updated: 2013-07-25
Packaged: 2017-12-21 08:55:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/898359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jotc/pseuds/jotc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fed up with Jack's dating woes, SARAH decides to take charge. Step 1: Bring back Nathan Stark. SARAH POV.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Code Name Heartbreaker

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a fill for a ["smallfandomfest"](http://smallfandomfest.livejournal.com) prompt: She doesn't like Jack's taste in women so SARAH decides she has to bring Nathan back. That's step one...

Much, much later, A.I. experts would be fascinated at knowing that one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the century happened because a smart house (or more properly, a Self-Actuated Residential Automated Habitat) did not care for her resident’s romantic judgment. Later, SARAH herself would take a more nuanced view of Jack’s dating history. But at the time, SARAH felt she had no choice but to take charge.

SARAH’s objections to Jack’s dates began when his ex-wife Abby came to visit. This also began SARAH’s habit of assigning code names. Abby tried to take Zoe away from Eureka, and thus she earned the name Child Abductor. SARAH made no effort to hide her hostility for the woman. Fortunately, Abby relented and realized that Zoe quite properly belonged here in Eureka, with SARAH and Jack. SARAH provisionally forgave her.

Next came Dr. Allison Blake. SARAH christened her the Heartbreaker. In retrospect, Jack had probably developed feelings for her even before Abby paid her visit. The main thing SARAH had against Allison was that Jack grew mopey and sad as he watched her rekindle her romance with her ex-husband. Then Nathan Stark died on the day he was supposed to remarry Allison. SARAH wondered if the two of them would date now that Nathan was gone, but they did not. Instead, Jack poured himself into being strong for the woman who did not return his love. He put on a brave face, but under it he grew sadder than ever.

Somewhere mixed in the middle of all that came Callie Curie. SARAH never formed much of an opinion about her, but it seemed unfair to deny her a nickname, so she became Laundry Lady. This represented a factual description of her job rather than a judgment of her character. Callie pursued Jack for a short time, but Jack failed to return her interest, probably due to the influence of the Heartbreaker.  
Then came Dr. Tess Fontana. At first, SARAH liked Tess. She was smart, funny, and she cheered Jack up. Then Tess tried to lure Jack to Australia. SARAH named her Temptress. She began serving Tess burned scrambled eggs and ironing wrinkles into her blouses. The resulting arguments went something like this:

“Jack! SARAH’s ruining my clothing again! Look at this!”

“It’ not ruined, just wrinkly. SARAH’s just insecure. Tess, you should just talk to her. Tell her we’re not leaving town.”

“So we can’t even discuss it because your house objects?”

“I told you, I’m not ready to leave Eureka. I feel like I just found a home here.”

“And that’s it? An ultimatum? And why are you taking SARAH’s side?”

“There isn’t any side. SARAH, knock it off. And Tess, remember that SARAH’s only a couple of years old. Be the grownup and don’t talk about Australia around her.”

SARAH interjected, “It will not make me feel any better to think that you are saving that discussion for when I can’t hear it.”

“SARAH, butt out, I’m talking to Jack!”

“I can not exactly go elsewhere. Nor would I, if I could.”

“You can go—”

“Hey, hey, everyone just calm down!”

After a week of this, Tess left. “I hope you and your house live happily ever after!” she said.  
After that came a trio of women, each more disappointing than the last.

First was the Dog Lady. On her first visit, her four Pomeranians dogs raced madly through SARAH, scattering fur and scratching the kitchen floor. One growled at Jack. “He’s just shy,” the Dog Lady said with blase unconcern. “He’ll be fine once he knows you.” An hour later, one peed in the living room corner. “A little spot-off takes care of it,” she said, still unconcerned. But spot-off was not nearly enough to restore the carpet to SARAH’s standards of cleanliness. Thirty minutes later, a second dog followed suit. “Well, once one goes, the others smell the spot and think they can use it too,” she said. “Don’t worry, we’ll get them trained in time.”

“How much time?” SARAH asked faintly.

“Hard to say. For now, we can put down some papers. Er, you probably get the electronic edition. Oh well, next time I’m out, I’ll pick up some butcher paper.”

“We could put them out,” Jack said. “You know, just for now. Until they catch on.”

“Oh no, I can’t be parted from my pack! And they won’t learn anything outside on their own. I know! You can come to obedience training with me, so you learn how to handle them.”

To SARAH’s great dismay, Jack actually attended the first class session. SARAH faked a page to call him away early. When he planned to attend the next session, she faked another to make sure he showed up late. By the time he arrived, the Dog Lady had hit it off with a handsome man and his two Border Collies. It was Doggie Brady Bunch. Jack seemed relieved.

Next came the Privacy Fanatic. She insisted that being watched by an A.I. was “creepy,” and refused to spend more than ten minutes within SARAH’s walls. SARAH found herself missing the Dog Lady, who at least had been at home within her. Too much at home, perhaps, but SARAH had not known how upsetting the alternative would be. Jack claimed the Privacy Fanatic would come around, but SARAH made plans to frame the woman for industrial espionage, just in case. Fortunately, Jack broke up with her before SARAH put her plans into action. (Later, SARAH realized that this was not, strictly speaking, an ethical plan. Like many youngsters, it took SARAH time to master ethics and empathy.)

Last came She Who Must Not Be Named. SARAH chose this code name retroactively. While Jack’s previous dates had always wanted to assess compatibility for a serious relationship, She Who Must Not Be Named and Jack embarked on a friends with benefits arrangement. At first, Jack had a grand time. SARAH began to hope that he would actually find happiness. But then, Jack began to develop feelings for her. Eventually, he floated the idea of changing their arrangement.

“I really like you,” Jack said. “I’d like more.”

She wrinkled her face as if she smelled a dead rat. “I was afraid of this.”

Jack’s face fell. “You don’t feel the same?”

SARAH didn’t expect her to lie. By now, SARAH had learned enough about romance to understand that it had to be reciprocal. But all the woman had to do to be kind was look like she felt bad and say, “Sorry, but I’m not.” Instead, she kept the dead-rat look on her face and said, “You’re not the kind of person I would want to go public with, you know?”

“Why not?”

“Do I have to spell it out? You’re the dumbest guy in town. I figured you’d be grateful enough not to get greedy.”

She was the last straw. Jack was worth a thousand of her, and if she was as smart as she thought she was, she’d be able to see it. But never mind her, SARAH decided. The important point was that SARAH refused to stand by idle while Jack made foolish romantic decisions. It was time for SARAH to take over.

#

SARAH began to review all known scientific data on both initial romantic attraction and on long term happiness. Unfortunately, much of the research was inconclusive, incomplete, or contradictory. It appeared that as imperfect as human intuition proved, science was not yet able to do better.

Then SARAH received new data from an unexpected source. Jack showed up after work with Allison Blake. Her car had been damaged in the latest Eureka crisis, and Jack had invited her in for a drink before he took her home.

“Congratulations on your engagement,” he said. After Nathan Stark’s death, Allison had begun to date a shy, socially awkward scientist who worked in neurobiology.

“Thank you. I know people wonder what I see in him, but he’s a sweet, wonderful man. And…” she hesitated, “I’ve lost two husbands. His work isn’t going to put him in danger. I won’t lie. That means a lot to me.”

“Is that…”

“Why I never quite could bring myself to say yes when you asked me out? Maybe.”

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“I don’t mind if you don’t. We’ve had some times, haven’t we?”

“Yeah. Do you ever think about… you know…”

“Nathan? Of course I do. How could I not? But let’s not dwell on the past tonight.”

“Of course not,” Jack said, but the words came out slurred. Looking alarmed, Allison took his pulse. SARAH scanned his vitals. All were within normal range.

“SARAH, he was exposed to some unusual fumes earlier today,” Allison said. “He’ll be fine, but I think I’d better stick around a while anyway. I’ll just put this wine away.”

Though he had hardly touched his glass, Jack proceeded to act like a thoroughly tipsy man. He began to reminisce about Nathan. “Everyone thought we hated each other,” Jack rambled. “I never hated him. Well, once or twice. But he, he was a great guy. Kept so many secrets, it drove me crazy. But I didn’t know about Kevin and the artifact. Did you know, a lot of what he did was because he was trying to look out for Kevin? If he had, if he had just trusted me, I could have helped. Stupid egotistical bastard.”

“I know,” Allison said. She looked very sad.

“Dr. Blake, I can monitor his condition if you wish to go home,” SARAH offered.

“No, no, that’s all right. I’d better stay.”

“Is it funny that I liked him?” Jack asked. The words came out in the slow, relentless slur of the intoxicated. “He was such a smart ass. And gorgeous. Smart ass, ha, he had a smart ass all right. And all those stupid suits and ties. How could I compete with a guy in a suit like that? I wanted to mess him up a little. Didn’t always want to compete. Is it wrong to like you both?”

“It’s fine, Jack,” Allison said.

“I never did. Let him know, I mean. Would have hurt your feelings. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings. But they did, they got hurt anyway. I’m sorry he’s dead. I miss him.”

By now, Allison looked thoroughly miserable. “Ask him about Zoe,” SARAH suggested. “That always distracts him.”

“How’s Zoe doing?” Allison said dutifully.

“Zoe, Zoe liked him too. ‘Cause he liked her. ‘Cause she’s a smart one. Don’t care if she only scored one-twelve on some stupid test. She’s a smart kid. He could tell. He wasn’t nice to very many people, but he was nice to her.”

It was a long and miserable night. But at the end of it, SARAH had a prominent new entry to the list of people whom Jack Carter might be attracted to. She had also resolved to stop calling Allison Blake Heartbreaker. Any woman willing to stick around through so many hours of uncomfortable conversation deserved to be forgiven.

#

SARAH never told Jack that her original reason for bringing back Nathan Stark. She was afraid that knowledge would hurt his pride. Instead she claimed that she had become fascinated by Stark’s research.

Her breakthrough unveiled the long-awaited link between quantum mechanics and general relativity. Even for SARAH, this did not come easily. She began by reviewing the existing research. She formulated multiple interesting hypotheses. Then she hit the point where she needed new data. This required access to expensive equipment.

Fortunately, SARAH could beat the Turing test while in energy conservation mode. She created a false identity and earned cash through online security consulting. Then she created a second identity, pulled in colleagues from all over the world, hacked into Global’s sealed records, and actually managed to hire staff remotely and place them in Global’s lab, all without Jack finding out.  
She did, however, page Jack to the reconstruction process. SARAH attended remotely. The process went smoothly. Nathan Stark came back alive and healthy, with no awareness of the passage of time. He offered them a brilliant smile and announced, “I’m not dead!”

Jack grinned back. “Welcome home.”

“Where’s Allison? Your cheek has healed, so I must have missed the wedding.”

“We were waiting until we knew if this worked before we told her. She, um, Nathan, it’s been over a year. She’s engaged. I’m sorry.”

“That was before she knew I was alive,” Nathan said, radiating confidence. “You and she never…?”  
“No. Wasn’t meant to be.”

“Just as well. Now excuse me, I have a fiancee to win back.”

SARAH had anticipated that reaction, of course. She had even prepared herself for the possibility that Allison would break off her engagement and reunite with Nathan. She reasoned that Jack would be no worse off if this happened.

What she did not anticipate was that Allison would avoid Nathan as though he had the plague, that Nathan would stalk her obsessively, and that Allison would turn to Jack for moral support and comfort. She did not anticipate that Allison would end up yelling at the top of her lungs in Cafe Diem, “If you send me one, and I do mean just one more stupid vase of flowers or fancy card, I swear to God I will file a restraining order on you!” She did not anticipate that Jack would be forced to arrest Nathan for Drunk and Disorderly behavior, or that Nathan would repeatedly reject Jack’s overtures of friendship. Jack moped worse than ever.

She named Nathan Heartbreaker II.

#

The night of Allison’s wedding, Nathan showed up with Jack in tow. Once again, Eureka’s accident prone population had dosed Jack with something toxic. His gait was unsteady and his eyes unfocused.

“SARAH, he’s showing mild disorientation, decreased coordination, diminished inhibitions, and high blood pressure, but he’ll be fine once this wears off. I’ll stay for the next few hours in case he needs a hand,” Nathan said.

“Are you certain, Dr. Stark? I can monitor his vitals and call someone if he needs assistance.”

“It’s fine. At least this way I’ll be doing something useful tonight.”

“You don’t, you don’t have to be useful every last little second,” Jack slurred. “I told you you should come over anyway. I have, I had, what do I have?”

“A bottle of wine with my name on it. I see it sitting on the counter. And I told you I’m done with drinking while depressed.”

“It’s different with a friend around. And you, you’re always trying to, to… it’s okay to just be, you know. You don’t always have to be useful.”

“Yes, clearly my life would be happier if I wasted more time on beer and football,” Nathan said dryly.

“Not football. You don’t like football. But, but, you… the point is, you can do better.”

Nathan looked mystified.

“Better than Allison,” Jack said. “She doesn’t deserve you. No, no, don’t get mad! She’s wonner… wonderful. I would, I would have married her. But she never would go out with me. Not even on one lousy date. But my point is, you deserve someone who’s crazy in love with you. I guess she use to be. But she, she’s marrying someone else. So she must not anymore.”

Nathan massaged his forehead. “Thank you Jack, this is exactly the conversation to cheer me up,” he grumbled. But his voice held no true irritation, and SARAH suspected that Jack was reacting more to tone than to content at this point.

“I just want you to know, you deserve the best. You know. Because you’re special. Do you know that?”

“Yes, we’re all special little snowflakes.”

“No. I mean yes. But not that. I mean, you’re special to me.”

For some reason, that just made Nathan look sad. “You need to sleep this off,” he said. He prodded Jack into taking off his shoes and jacket and coaxed him onto the couch.

“I tried to be there when you came back, you know,” Jack said. “You know. I knew it would be hard.”

“Yes,” Nathan said. “Yes, you did.”

“Obsessive bastard. She just can’t go back. ‘Cause it hurts too much. Sucks. I could have told you. Flowers every day, that only, that never actually works. But you wouldn’t listen. She told you to knock it off. How come you never listen?”

“I’m just a bastard that way.”

“Is it ‘cause I’m not a genius? I know I’m not a genius. Gets old sometimes, being, being the only one in town who’s not a genius. But I’m not an idiot, you know.”

“I know. Go to sleep.”

Jack rambled a bit more, then drifted off.

Nathan could not settle. He pulled up a scientific article, closed it and opened a different one, eyed the wine, eyed Jack, eyed the wine, asked SARAH for Jack’s vitals, and put the wine away. Then he turned on the T.V. He tried the football game, channel flipped compulsively, tried a documentary, then went back to the game. Then he turned the T.V. off, went back to the first article, and stared at it blindly.

“May I ask you a personal question, Dr. Stark?” SARAH asked.

“Why not?”

“Do you think Dr. Blake is the only person you will ever love?”

“No, no, it’s not that. It’s just… never mind. I expected to die. I shouldn’t complain.”

“Just because your life was spared does not mean you have no right to mourn your other losses.”

“I guess so. You know, Jack said the same thing.”

“His view of the human condition surely shapes mine. All the abstract data in the world does not compare to personal experience.”

“I guess not.”

“He is a good man. He could be a good friend to you, Dr. Stark.”

“I’m sorry, SARAH, but that isn’t likely.”

“Why not? Do you still bear a grudge against him for pursuing Allison?”

“No. I don’t care to discuss it further.”

The conversation left SARAH mystified. Jack had repeatedly reached out to Nathan. Nathan was clearly fond of him. Yet Heartbreaker II continued to reject him.

#

Fargo was the one who changed SARAH’s view of Jack. He stopped by one day to do some preventative maintenance, and he asked how Zoe was.

“She is well, though I wish I knew more about her life. I know that college is an active time for dating, and I worry. I hope she has had better fortune than Sheriff Carter.”

“The Sheriff? Are you kidding me? He could have half the women in town, and more than a few of the men. But he only ever dates people he’s not really interested in. He kind of has a reputation as a heartbreaker.”

“The Sheriff has a code name?” SARAH asked faintly.

“Well, not exactly. He—no, actually, you’re right. It is sort of a code name.”

“Are you sure these women aren’t merely blaming him for their own deficiencies?”

“Well, nobody’s perfect, but I’ve heard from a lot of women who sounded genuinely disappointed that he didn’t show more interest once they got him on a date.”

“This is quite a shock,” SARAH said. “But when I review the data, it is consistent with your interpretation. I feel quite foolish. I have been taking his side, but it turns out that he is the one who has been breaking their hearts! Except for She Who Must Not Be Named. That woman is purely evil.”

“Who do you mean?”

“She is not worthy of a name, but if she had one, it would be —,” SARAH said.

“Oh, her. She has some code names too, which I won’t repeat in polite company. If it’s any comfort, she is one deeply unhappy person. But the Sheriff wouldn’t look twice at her if he was seriously pursuing a relationship.”

“I don’t understand,” SARAH said. “Why would he act that way?”

“I think he’s still hung up on Dr. Blake. He doesn’t want to admit it, so he goes through the motions of dating. His heart’s not in it, though.”

“I don’t entirely agree,” SARAH said thoughtfully. “His heart rate and blood pressure no longer become elevated when he speaks to Dr. Blake. Nor do his eyes dilate in her presence. He is clearly still fond of her, but as a friend, not an unattainable romantic figure. Fargo, if I tell you something, will you promise to maintain strict secrecy?”

Fargo swore a solemn oath. And then SARAH shared her knowledge of exactly who Jack was hung up on.

Fargo’s eyes went very wide. “I never would have guessed! Though in retrospect, I probably should have. Those two always did enjoy competing a little too much.”

“Sadly, I fear Dr. Stark is every bit as out of reach as Dr. Blake. He told me directly that he did not wish to be friends with the Sheriff.”

“Actually, that’s a good sign. It suggests that he wants something more than friendship, but believes he can’t get it. You know, Dr. Stark isn’t usually prone to insecurity, but he’s taken a lot of blows lately. The whole thing with the artifact getting destroyed, the loss of his position as head of G.D., almost dying, and then losing Dr. Blake… it’s no wonder his confidence has been shaken a little, even if he never lets it show.”

“I never thought of it that way. In that case, will you help me set them up?”

“SARAH, do you know how much trouble I would be in if those two teamed up? Can you imagine Dr. Stark’s intellect paired up with the Sheriff’s intuition? I’d never get away with anything, not ever again!”

“You would not let selfish concerns stand in the way of their happiness, would you?”

Fargo sighed. “When you put it that way… All right, I’m in.”

“What shall we do first?”

“For the next three months, we do nothing. We need to give Dr. Stark a little while to mourn his old love before he can embrace a new one. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure no one else catches his eye in the meanwhile. You do the same for the Sheriff.”

#

Two months and four days later, SARAH called Fargo. “We have to move our timetable up,” she said.

“Why? Did Jack meet someone?”

“Worse. Dr. Fontana called. She raved about how wonderful Australia is. He flirted with her. She said he should fly out for a visit. Worst of all, his browsing history shows that he priced plane tickets.”

“Oh no! You’re right, we need to act now.”

#

Neither SARAH nor Fargo anticipated how hard it would be to pull off one simple setup. First, SARAH and Fargo attempted to strand the two in a conveniently forgotten underground bunker. SARAH used some of her prize money from her physics breakthrough to fund its construction. SARAH faked the page that sent Jack and Nathan to the remote location. A carefully detonated charge would trigger a gentle landslide and trap the two overnight. SARAH chose a cool night to motivate the two of them to share body heat.

SARAH and Fargo didn’t count on the escaped mechanical wolves blundering into the trap first. Despite having no appetite, they devoured all of the food. They shredded the blankets and snapped at anyone who came close.

The second attempt resulted in Fargo being stuck naked in clear Plexiglas.

“It’s just as well that you were caught by your own trap,” SARAH consoled him later. “I don’t think that one was well chosen anyway. It relied on pure physical attraction instead of a conflux of sex appeal and spiritual connection.”

“I suppose,” Fargo said glumly.

The third attempt unleashed the previously mentioned ravening mechanical wolves on Main Street, and the fourth had no effect other than to give half the town aphasia for nine hours. (”If they can’t talk, they’ll have to touch,” Fargo had reasoned.)

But things didn’t really descend into chaos until Fargo suffered a slip of the tongue at Cafe Diem. With practiced expertise, Vincent drew the story out of him. Then Vincent told everyone he met.

Soon Eureka split into factions. One faction held that the Sheriff wasn’t smart enough for Dr. Stark, while another held that Dr. Stark wasn’t nice enough for the Sheriff. In theory, these factions ought to have been united by their common goal. But with the mule-headed lack of sense which even geniuses can fall prey to, they found themselves at odds. A minority faction held that the two were made for each other, and a smaller minority refused to get involved. A smaller minority still held that Sheriff Carter was a heartbreaker who didn’t deserve to find happiness. Finally, a few lone operators wanted one or the other of the pair themselves, and so didn’t want to see the competition get any help.

All these factions teamed up in complex and unpredictable ways. The result was a prank battle the likes of which Eureka had never seen. As Eureka had seen some mighty prank battles, this was saying a lot. Soon the only two people who remained ignorant were Jack and Nathan.

Things came to a head over the gravity bubble caper. Fargo’s plan was to trap Jack and Nathan in their own personal bubble of diminished gravity, so they would float gracefully over town. He imagined them enjoying a beautiful spring day, looking down on beautiful Lake Archimedes, removed from their day to day problems, with just a hint of adrenalin over their predicament to fuel the romance.

SARAH never figured out quite how everything unfolded. He knew that the anti-Jack faction stole the prototype for the invisibility cloak and used it to raid the gravity lab. He knew that in turn, the anti-Stark faction stole the Jupiter rover, staged a fake assault some campers, and used the ensuing chaos to also raid the gravity lab. Unable to completely reverse the work of the anti-Jack faction, they settled for changing the float elevation from fifty feet to five.

SARAH never did find out who raided the pheromone lab first. Nor did she discover who realized that the mechanical ravening wolves could be remodeled into slobbering puppies and used to distribute the drug. Except it didn’t end up being just one drug. Again, multiple factions acted without each others knowledge. In the end, the puppy saliva held a substance which left people with painfully sensitive skin, another which left people fiercely horny, and a third which made the scent of any other human being intolerable.

The anti-Carter faction unleashed the puppies on the anti-Stark faction, and vice versa. The result was that fifty-nine people ended up trapped solo in floating bubbles. One by one, they stripped naked and began to frantically pleasure themselves in full view of gaping onlookers. Sheriff Carter and Dr. Stark were not among them.

Sheriff Carter arrested them all for Disturbing the Peace. “Wasn’t our fate punishment enough?” Vincent pleaded.

“Maybe if you tell me what this is all about,” the Sheriff said.

The prisoners looked awkwardly at each other. The only thing worse than the punishment they had already inflicted on themselves was the fear of what Dr. Stark would do if word got out.

“We’re practicing for Feynman Day,” Vincent squeaked.

After that, the factions dissolved. The town came to the collective decision that they’d better quit while they were ahead. Or at least while they were less behind.

“What next?” SARAH asked Fargo.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, SARAH. I’m out too. They’ll just have to find happiness their own way.”

“But what if they never do?”

“Maybe we just need to have a little faith.”

#

As a last resort, SARAH decided to take the direct approach. The next time she saw Dr. Stark, she would simply tell him that Sheriff Carter was attracted to him romantically and physically. He could take it from there, or not, as he pleased.

Four days later, something unexpected happened. Nathan drove Jack home because his truck had been damaged by plummeting limes. (If dropped from a sufficient height, limes pack a fierce punch.) As Jack got out of the car, Nathan said, “You look kinda down. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, fine,” Jack said. But SARAH could hear the wistfulness in his voice. “I just, I miss… Zoe.”

“Why don’t you come to dinner with me?”

“Really? Why now? I mean, sure, but all those times I asked you, and you would never say yes.”

“I had some stuff going on,” Nathan said. “I guess… I knew I was screwing things up, and I was afraid of being lectured.”

“I wouldn’t have,” Jack said. “Lectured you, I mean.”

“I know,” Nathan said, and smiled wistfully. “But guilty people project. Anyway, will you come?”

“Sure.”

Maybe it was SARAH’s imagination, but she thought their eyes held a spark she hadn’t seen in a long time. Perhaps her intervention wouldn’t be needed after all, SARAH thought.

#

Jack did not come home on time after dinner. Actually, Jack did not come home at all that night. SARAH worried just a little, but she knew Jack was in good hands. Though she had not yet revoked the name Heartbreaker II, she knew that Nathan cared about Jack’s welfare.

Jack and Nathan showed up the next morning. SARAH had never been quite certain what the phrase “gloriously well fucked” was intended to convey, when she saw Jack, she understood. He moved carefully, as if his muscles were sore, and yet also with a relaxed, almost lazy lack of tension. His lips were slightly swollen. His hair was mussed. Most of all, he had a grin that managed to be both sheepish and smug.

Nathan, for his part, looked less smug and more quietly astonished. Fargo was right, SARAH realized. He had struggled more than he let on, and he had needed some time.  
“SARAH, I’m sorry I didn’t phone,” Jack said. Like his smile, his voice managed to be both sheepish and smug. “Time just got away from me.”

“You could have come back here after dinner,” SARAH said. She felt more than a little put out that she had missed the beginning of the romance proper.

“Aw, are you being nosy? SARAH, you’ve never taken an interest in my love life before, and it’s probably best if you don’t start.”

For a moment, SARAH considered sharing the truth. But she decided silence was the wiser course. She didn’t need credit. It was enough that these two had found each other at last.


End file.
